Make-Ahead & Freeze Breakfast Burritos April 26, 2012

This is one our family favorites! And it is definitely a time saver on those hectic mornings before school/work! These breakfast burritos are a nice change from cereal, quick and easy to warm up, and great on the go!

Ingredients needed:

1 &1/2 dozen eggs

3 lb sausage

2-3 packs of  flour tortillas

1 large can Green enchilada sauce

shredded  cheese

1 bag frozen southern hash brown potatoes (the cubes)

Plastic wrap & freezer bags

First you brown your sausage and drain the grease. I use the big 3 lb roll of Jimmy Dean. But any breakfast sausage will work fine.

Next, scramble your eggs. i forgot to take a picture of that…sorry. I used 1 & 1/2 dozen for this batch and had some left over.

Warm your tortillas in the microwave so they are easier to fold without breaking and then lay them out on the counter.

*Lay out the tortillas, sprinkle cheese, scrambled egg, & sausage on each tortilla.

Then sprinkle a few frozen southern hash brown potatoes on top.

I like to drizzle Green enchilada sauce on them too. It may not sound very good but it sure does taste good. Helps them from being dry too.

Careful not to over fill the tortillas. You will have trouble getting them to fold.

Now, fold in each side, then holding those side down, fold up the bottom and tuck it in over the filling and roll it up.

I like to wrap mine in deli paper first but you don’t have to. You do need to wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap.

And then place them in a freezer bag. Be sure to let out as much air as you can before zipping it closed.

Don’t forget to label your bag before putting the wrapped burritos inside. You can even write heating instruction on the bag if you want.

I like to heat a frozen burrito in the microwave for 30 seconds before unwrapping and then 1 minute unwrapped. You will have to find the right heating method that works for you.  ENJOY!!!

My Kitchen Command Center April 18, 2012

With 5 kids, a husband, 1 big dog, and 2 cats AND daycare in my home…..it gets pretty hectic! When I came across Jaime’s Kitchen Command Center on her Blog, I thought to myself “I NEED one of those!!!”

Jaime’s has a chore chart for each of her kids. But I don’t have enough wall space for that… So, I had to come up with another plan! My sister-n law owns a local vinyl business, Just Your Signs and Shirts. So I told her what I needed and in just a couple of days she designed this awesome, custom chore chart for my family (bottom picture)! (BTW… she will do one for you for $10 plus cost of board for small and $15 plus cost of board for large -like mine). I ordered my chore magnets from Abbie’s House on Etsy.com

. I have to admit… I always feel guilty for asking for too much help so I always try to do everything myself. That makes for one TIRED Mama! Not anymore…. The kids have never been more helpful and I have been so much better at handing out chores. When they do their chores, they move the chore magnet back over to the right side. I think they feel accomplished And I am really enjoying a cleaner house!

Now, the Menu board wasn’t as easy. You better believe i tried to find a place I could buy one from… Then, I tried to pay my scrapbooking friend (Hi Peggy) to make one for me   I finally decided to TRY it myself. It wasn’t bad at all…   I bought a cork board at WM for around $8, two different colored fabrics, squiggly border, iron on letters, sticker letters and some green paint (the cheap kind in the squeeze bottle in the craft section). I had the clothespins already at home. I used crayon boxes for the menu card holders. I used a paint scraper and tucked the fabric in…clever huh? And I used hot glue for everything else, except the letters.

We pick out the meals we want for the week and I take the menu cards to the grocery store with me. I print the ingredients list on each card and mark out (with dry erase marker) the items I already have on hand. You would not believe how much money I have been saving on groceries this way!!! I even have an “Eat Out” card but we rarely use it. The whole family has been really enjoying all the new recipes I have been trying

I got my ideas for the Menu board from Jaime @ The Clay Family Blog Here,  Here from All Things Beautiful, and Here @ Heartland Paper. I used the ideas of each one and came up with my own I hope you like it and I hope I have inspired you to make your own! PLEASE send me a link if you try it…. I would love to see what you came up with!